Passengers released from hijacked plane

HAVANA, CUBA — A Cuban Airlines plane hijacked by a man claiming to have two grenades and demanding to go to Florida took off Tuesday after a group of passengers safely left the craft.

The Soviet-made AN-24 plane took off from Jose Marti International Airport about 10:45 a.m. EST for an unknown destination. It was unknown if the hijacker was still aboard.

Earlier Tuesday, two separate groups of as many as two dozen passengers, including a woman holding a small child, jumped from the open back hatch of the plane into the arms of emergency workers. The passengers then boarded buses and were driven off the runway.

The Cuban Airlines AN-24 was hijacked late Monday on a flight from Cuba's small Isle of Youth to Havana but was forced to land in the capital because it lacked sufficient fuel to make it to the United States, Cuban authorities said.